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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 424
ERASTUS JUNIOR BUCK, M.D., of Platteville, Grant county, Wis., was born Sept. 5, 1828, at Heath, Mass., son of Erastus and Roxana (BALDWIN) BUCK, and grandson of William BUCK. He is a lineal descendant of Sergt. William BUCK, of Heath, Mass., a patriot of the Revolution, and also of Elbridge Gerry, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He received a common-school and academic education, commenced the study of medicine in 1849, at Nunda, N.Y., under Drs. John TURNER and Eben WARNER, and attended medical lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1854; in 1889 he attended a post-graduate course at the New York Polyclinic.
In April, 1861, Dr. BUCK enlisted, as a private in a company of Union soldiers which he had been instrumental in raising, in May following was commissioned lieutenant of the same company, and in November of the same year was commissioned first assistant surgeon of the 18th Wisconsin Volunteers; in September, 1862, he was commissioned surgeon, with the rank of major, of this regiment, and held the position until the close of the war, July, 1865. He was in active service from and including the battle of Shiloh to the surrender of Vicksburg, and during that time was appointed brigade surgeon, surgeon-in-chief of hospitals, and was one of the board of operators. A record of some of his surgical operations, will be found in the "Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion," while in civil practice he has done considerable general surgery, gynecological work, etc. He entered the private practice of medicine in 1855, at Towlesville, N.Y., where he remained two years; was then at Westfield, Wis., six years; served in the army four years; and has practiced at Platteville, Wis., since 1868. Dr. BUCK is a member of the Wisconsin State Medical Association; American Public Health Association; National Association of Railway Surgeons; Platteville Literary Club; member of the executive committee of the Platteville Lecture Association; and member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He served in the Wisconsin Legislature (Assembly) in 1860 and 1861, and was a member of the standing committee on Medical Societies and Medical Colleges. He served as health officer of the city of Platteville from 1887 to 1894, was pension examiner for many years; and is at present medical examiner for several of the leading life insurance companies. He is a Republican in politics.
In 1866 Dr. BUCK married Miss Sarah Elizabeth TRASK, of Beaver Dam, Wis., a descendant in the eighth generation of Capt. William TRASK, who settled in Salem, Mass., in 1820. They have seven children; Gertrude Amelia, Clara Louise, Guerdon Condie, Winifred Kendrick, Florence Terry, Ethelwyn Berenice, and Lenys Mary.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck